Most helpful customer reviews on Amazon. I found this book to be a fast and an exciting book to read. It had an interesting spin on human evolution. The book also explores people's true values and morels, questioning what happens when to people who develop a gift of special powers, how the true core of the human soul rises to the top. All of the characters have a unique and likable way about them, even the villains have you wanting them to succeed!
This is defiantly a must read! Get to Know Us. Not Enabled Word Wise: Enabled Average Customer Review: Be the first to review this item Would you like to tell us about a lower price? Delivery and Returns see our delivery rates and policies thinking of returning an item? See our Returns Policy. Visit our Help Pages. Audible Download Audio Books. Mimi, Fee, and Izzy were the ones who charmed me in Little Italy.
Daddies, daughters, and nieces stole my heart in Belladonna Bay. This one contains a tighter but worse family and incorporates an element not yet explored: Friends often become family and friends can hurt you in the way you thought only family could, maybe even moreso. The elements of this tale had me swept up far more than the characters. Not that there was anything wrong with them, there wasn't, it's just that my attention was drawn to the non-people aspects. And here's all the stuff that was here before the review: You guys, she did it again.
She always knows just how to get to me.
I'm all teary-eyed, fanning my face, making sniffling noises. Suzy, you can have all my organs. I don't really know why you'd need them but since you've already got my heart, may as well take the rest, too. View all 10 comments. Mar 13, Carmen Blankenship rated it it was amazing Shelves: I absolutely loved it. This is a highly anticipated book for me.
I adore books about witches especially when the witches are everyday people with extraordinary abilities. You know how it goes from there You find them on Facebook, you friend them on Goodreads and follow them on Twitter I was not disappointed. I found The Witch of Bourbon Street captivating.
It is hard to sum up a book sometimes without feeling like you're giving away the story. I will say that at the crux of this story it is about family, forgiveness, trust, and owning up the decisions we make, and how our childhood so drastically can affect us as adults. It is at times heavy, at times funny and is sprinkled with a little magic and mystery.
I am certainly under Suzanne Palmieri's spell. Thank you to Netgalley and St Martins press for this advanced copy in exchange for this honest review. Jan 06, Mary rated it it was amazing. Another wonderful witchy story from one of my faves Suzanne Palmieri. Set in the Bayou of New Orleans this time, full of the legends and lores of the Cajun country.
Each character was well developed and interesting, I loved the ghosts, the ramshackle mansion filled with nature and magic. Filled with history, family love, mistakes, and redemption. A tale skillfully told, spicy as good gumbo, with a most satsfying finish. Aug 29, Nicky rated it it was amazing Shelves: I was lucky enough to have an advanced copy of this book.
Let me tell you, it doesn't disappoint if you've followed Palmieri's other novels. Her descriptions are more lush and the entire story is tinged with magic and melancholy while keeping you hopeful. I love her words. I will forever sing this woman's praises. Jul 04, Gina Heron rated it it was amazing. Come get lost in the bayou with Suzy. And in the beautiful words.
She has all the beautiful words. But be ready, because it's a little like flinging yourself outside in the middle of a hurricane as you swirl back and forth through histories and narrations and the beauty that is Louisiana. That kind of power and beauty is totally worth the ride, though, right? Mar 07, Holly rated it it was ok. I will start by saying I only read half of this book. By the time I made it that far I still did not care about any of the characters, and I was flat out bored.
It's like someone took a story from Sarah Addison Allen and drained it of personality and charm. That might sound harsh, but that's how it felt. I did skip to the almost end and read some of how things got wrapped up, but I didn't even finish that because I just didn't care. The Witch of Bourbon Street I was waiting on a book to become available from the library when I came across this novel and of course I couldn't resist it with the title.
I liked the Bourbon Street part but not the witch part so much. I should have just went with my instincts and passed on it but I didn't. I guess if you are into witches and ghosts then this would be a novel for you but it definitely wasn't for me. The tale switches between the past and the present focusing on several characters and the murders of The landscape is lush and fascinating as we learn about the Sorrow family.
The Sorrow Estate and the surrounding bayou where characters as well and I found myself longing to go there. What a colorful, dysfunctional family the Sorrow Caffeinated Aspects: What a colorful, dysfunctional family the Sorrow family is. Palmieri invites us in to this eccentric family sharing their beginnings in New Orleans from the murders to the troubles of present day. We learn her story as she suddenly wakes one day ready to embrace her gift and life once again.
Then there is her young son Jack, who wants his parents back together again. We also get the perspective of Sippy, Frances' secret. The characters are quirky and I was immediately drawn to them. Herbal remedies, fortune telling, a shop on Bourbon Street and the Book of Sorrow add magical elements to this story. Crow, a bird who aids this family was an interesting creature. Then there are the ghosts who still linger on the bayou.
I loved speaking with the ghosts and learning their secrets. Palmieri weaved her magic and even had me believing. We get some present day mystery too when a young child goes missing. This is a second chance romance filled with love, forgiveness and redemption. It was a subtle thread but an important one.
The tale is a standalone and Palmieri wraps things up resolving both the past and present issues. I closed the book satisfied and smiling. The tale captivated me, but the different perspectives and time changes never really allowed me to lose myself within its pages. The first part of the book was a tad slow for me, and the last had me flipping the pages at warp speed. I wanted more details about certain characters and less about other things.
While I actually loved this attention to detail, some may find it makes the reading cumbersome. Palmieri paid particular attention to the dialect of her characters. She brought us that rich southern New Orleans speech from the educated to the rural dialect of the bayou. I loved Sippy and Jack. Copy provided by the publisher. This review was originally posted on Caffeinated Book Reviewer I absolutely loved this book, and give it my full recommendation. In this book, Palmieri creates a strong sense of the landscape of community of New Orleans and the Louisiana bayou.
The magical elements are intriguing and believable, but the focus remains on the characters. We meet a wonderful cast of quirky people, the strange Sorrow family of the Tivoli Parish, an old and once noble family now laughed at, while sometimes admired for their supposed magical powers that mostly seem to take the fo I absolutely loved this book, and give it my full recommendation. We meet a wonderful cast of quirky people, the strange Sorrow family of the Tivoli Parish, an old and once noble family now laughed at, while sometimes admired for their supposed magical powers that mostly seem to take the form of telling futures at 13 Bourbon Street.
Frances Sorrow was meant to save the family, but she lost faith in herself and in her magic a long time ago, now things are changing and it is finally time to put her life and her family back together. This is a great story about fixing your mistakes, about the importance of family, and about how nobody is perfect. It is a story about magic, but also about the magic in friendship, family and accepting yourself for who you are. Running a parallel to the modern day story is the mystery of the the murder and disappearance of the old Sorrow family, the ancestors a hundred years ago, which has bearing on present events.
The book has a bit of a Gothic feel to it, and a wonderful sense of magic and the lively and unique lifestyle of Louisiana. I really enjoyed my visits to Tivoli Parish and Bourbon Street! I really loved the big old house with the plants getting in through the holes in the roof.
It was also a nice reminder that it is never too late to fix your mistakes and make things right. Jun 16, Christa rated it really liked it Shelves: This is the first book I've read by Suzanne Palmieri, and at first I didn't know if I was going to like the main character, Frances Sorrow. I was feeling a little skeptical of the whole premise, but then the story really pulled me in. I ended up loving the characters, enjoying the storyline, and feeling good at the end of the book. It was one I enjoyed, and I will be reading more by the author. Frances Sorrow comes from a line of women who know they are witches and who are unlucky in love.
Frances tried to overcome that, but ended up living on her family's land as almost a hermit. She doesn't see her ex-husbnad or her son, Jack, unless she has to. All of her issues stem from a traumatic experience when she was sixteen that she hasn't shared with anyone. As the parts of her life begin to collide, she has to see if she can make peace with the past and enjoy her future. The Witch of Bourbon Street was a very good book. I thought the settings were wonderful, and they came together with sympathetic characters and an intriguing storyline to create a great book.
I like Palmieri's writing style, and the flow of the book. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy of the book in return for an honest review. Jul 31, Maria rated it really liked it. I believe someone once said that writing was easy, that it was all about sitting down and bleeding onto a page. As poetic as that sounds, I think that what Suzanne Palmieri does goes beyond that. Not only does she allow her characters to borrow the emotions they then wear across the pages, she also breathes life into them, she breathes herself into them.
I think that was why I fell in love with her novels in the first place. That said, I think I can now start talking about this novel in particular.
The Witch of Bourbon Street is a hurricane. The Witch of Bourbon Street is a revolution. I found it to be way darker, heavier. Even the space between the words felt thicker. I must confess I felt slightly lost at first. There were a lot of voices, faces, memories… and they all kept claiming my full attention at the same time. It was like being in the middle of a roundabout with an endless number of exits. Where was I supposed to go? Then it hit me. We have to admit to be lost before trying to find our own path, ourselves.
And that was exactly what I did. I am not going to lie to you. You see, they are not the kind to try and make you love them for something they are not. Instead, they just exhale their true colours and leave you to deal with it. That is until you realise that what they are doing is quite a refreshing thing, something to be admired and not judged.
They are not playing a part depending on context, or assuming roles in different plays. No, they are being themselves. How rare is that? And what a challenge it must be! The name Sorrow fits them like a glove. You can feel it clinging to your skin as you go through the pages. They wear their stories and histories, their memories and their mistakes… and they wear them proudly. Speaking of breathtaking, I should probably mention the enchanting landscapes that Suzanne Palmieri painted in The Witch of Bourbon Street. They are so rich you can almost smell the gardens and feel the endless colours of the sunset.
It was fantastic to see her again. And for some weird reason she feels so warm… hide spoiler ] Mar 09, Vivian rated it liked it Shelves: The Sorrow family is just that, a family filled with a history of sorrow. Due to a tragedy in , the subsequent generations of Sorrows have had to deal with the idea that their family is cursed. The current generation of Sorrow women consist of Frances Frankie , her mother Claudette, and her grandmother Dida. Claudette suffered a tragic injury causing blindness when she was only four years old.
Claudette's lover and father to Frankie drowned in an accident at sea. Frankie has turned her back The Sorrow family is just that, a family filled with a history of sorrow. Frankie has turned her back on the world because she feels guilt over an incident that occurred when she was sixteen years old. Frankie's son Jack has decided to take it upon himself to bring his parents back together using whatever magic he can work.
The Witch of Bourbon Street is a multigenerational story that weaves magic in with love lost, love found, family, and forgiveness. There are a lot of characters to keep track of in this story. We have Frances "Frankie" Sorrow and her family: The supporting cast includes: Craven historical society worker.
There's the bar at 13 Bourbon Street in New Orleans that is owned by the Sorrow family, the Voodoo bar in Tivoli Parish that is managed by Millie, the bayou, and the Sorrow family estate. Add in a family history of witchcraft and magic along with the hidden story behind the tragedy of and you've got all the makings for a somewhat convoluted yet intriguing story that spans generations and time.
I found The Witch of Bourbon Street to be a bit confusing a first simply because it was bouncing back and forth in time and the present , and then bouncing between perspectives. Once I had all of the major characters clear in my head and their relationships to one another it was a bit easier to keep track of everything. The story really began to pick up when Sippie located her biological family and was reunited with them. There's quite a bit of backstory that has to be dealt with before we get to the action precipitated by Jack's disappearance.
Can Frankie and Danny overcome their differences and build a lasting relationship?
Will Frankie, Danny, and Sippie be able to find Jack? What's the mystery behind the Sorrow family tragedy in ?
In some ways Moody is obvious in his writing and in others he is discrete. He is as exuberant about comics and history and television and the styles of the seventies as he is about shame, and these details help to defray the darkness of the plot and the characters. You see, they are not the kind to try and make you love them for something they are not. Words are probably older than the cave paintings in France, words have been here for tens of thousands of years longer than film, moving pictures, video, and digital video, and words will likely be here after those media too. I found myself swept through time, reliving the saga with the characters.
These questions and many more are answered fully when the past and present overlap in The Witch of Bourbon Street. This story is perfect for anyone that enjoys reading about love, forgiveness, and family drama with hints of magic. Sep 18, Lisa rated it it was ok. I have to be honest, this book was not what I expected and left me very disappointed. It started off well with the intriguing 'confession' of Sister-Nurse Vesta Grace regarding the deaths of nearly an entire family of Sorrows from Serafina's Bayou in This first chapter was wonderfully enigmatic and immediatel I have to be honest, this book was not what I expected and left me very disappointed.
This first chapter was wonderfully enigmatic and immediately sparked my interest; I was eager to learn more. However, immediately following that tantalizing first chapter, we are thrust into the less appealing contemporary storyline where we spend most of the remainder of the book.
Much of this portion of the book is written in a very different style, and while the author admirably seeks to capture the atmosphere and dialects of the setting, some readers may find it a little distracting and unwieldy to read. It certainly took me a few chapters or more to settle into. There are also numerous POV changes which make the narrative feel somewhat disjointed and can be confusing at times. The modern day Sorrows are a rather dysfunctional lot with plenty of family drama, secrets, and underlying tensions - and lots and lots of bickering too much, in my opinion.
The threads of this tale are interesting but take such a long time to develop and finally intertwine that I found the first part of the book a struggle to get through.